The sign is up in all older residence buildings, said Dalhousie spokesman Charles Crosby. It’s a precaution, he said. The older buildings have some asbestos insulation around pipes in the ceilings and walls.

The school has done air testing, which has shown there’s nothing to worry about right now, Crosby said.

But that could change if students start making holes in the walls.

“We have no sense that there is any risk,” he said.

“There is asbestos. We’re saying don’t do anything that would disturb it.”

Dalhousie, with its aging buildings, is doing asbestos remediation building by building as other work is done.

In 2010, traces of asbestos were discovered in a loading dock at Dal’s Life Sciences Centre, which was under some renovations at the time.

The sign in the residences asks students, as well as using sticky-tack to put things on the walls, to report any damaged walls or ceiling tiles.

Crosby said there have been no complaints that he knows of, and he said he would hear if there had been any.